It is a rainy and dismal day in New England as we get the "tail end" of yet another storm. It is somewhat dismal in my mind as well as I plunge into the news coming out of Africa that I have missed in these past few weeks. Africa does not often dominate the news or even find much of a place there unless it is having to do with Piracy off the coast of Somalia or within it's region. I don't want to dismiss or ignore this tragic phenomenon I just feel it is sufficiently covered and needs to be addressed by governments rather than missionary's or civilian's.
News of Africa has to be mined from article after article to find it's place here after pulling just the right way on my heart. Once something gets close to my heart I start feeling what it is I need to be writing about and often I can even connect what resonates to current happenings in my life as I write.
All that I do passionately is felt on what I consider to be a divine level from my creator and generally comes in rushes which is probably good.
The overflowing of emotion that I feel as a human being would if it could surely harness enough wind power to light a Village.
Although It is a beautiful thing to feel pure joy fully the other side of it is that is you must also possess the strength and the faith to get you through the most grievous of pain
The article I posted earlier was one of about five that I have read today about the never ending battle against malaria and the politics that foreshadow the topic. It seems every time there is progress made there is that undertow that pulls it all back to the mud and the mire that I have spoken of before as spoken in the Bible.
Many people have no idea that Malaria is one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing nearly 900,000 people a year, most of them children in tropical Africa.
The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation along with "WHO" {the world health organization} have gained ground recently with insecticide treated mosquito netting and bedding alone.
Astonishing to realize we live in a society where people regard so highly who makes our handbags that we don't stop to consider what it would be like to pray for a mosquito repellent treated net to cover us and our babies. If I dwell on this concept I can literally feel the bile rise in my throat. I'm back and as usual I am not mincing words.
The dreams and the visions of these children that have the odds so stacked against them from birth haunt me on this miserable, rainy day. To me the sky is weeping for humanity...
There is news in the article I posted today as you may have read, out of Cambodia that there is a new resistant strain of Malaria out that will of course be bound for Africa in no time at all. Everything migrates to Africa...to prey upon the most helpless and vulnerable people the world knows. The young children and their mother's seem to be the front line that evil goes directly to the heart of as it marches forth relentlessly.
I would be amiss if I did not also mention there is much talk of a new malaria vaccine that has shown some limited success in Mozambique and a few other places in Africa. The results have shown it to be 30-50% effective when given to infants at around 10-12 weeks of age. Health experts are said to be optimistic that the malaria vaccine could be made available to African governments by the year 2012. They are also hoping with continued aggressive research that they can bring these numbers up to 70-80% effectiveness in the coming years.
So again...one step forward, two steps back. As we finally find a possible vaccine for this killer malaria, a new strain is born.
There is intense and thorough research being done by a brave African Doctor named Fredros Okumu, a Kenyan researcher at the Tanzania-based Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), Dr. Okumu believes a breakthrough in the search for a cure for the killer disease lies in a deeper understanding of the outdoor behaviours of the parasite.
His research is in fact so profound and positive as well as innovative that he has been backed by The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. He believes the answers lie in the behaviour of the insects themselves which seems to me to make a lot of sense. This is news out of Arusha in Northern Tanzania where my heart keeps returning to time and time again.
When I stop and contemplate the obvious connections between disease, poverty and violence it seems to me that disease MUST be tackled head on in order to address the remaining issues. Imagine if you can choosing between combatting disease, poverty, hunger or violence to try and delay the inevitable...
I still would like to advocate treated mosquito nets as a small personal cause to any of you, right now they are an immediate and fairly effective means of protection. www.netsforlife.com is an effort I have a profound respect for as family by family they DO make a difference. For as little as $12 a month each of us can play a real part in bringing support and change to these people that expect so little from life.
All pettiness falls away when I become immersed in this heartbreaking reality of African mothers. I say it again and again, we are all one.
Innate in every woman is the "mother"... I know woman that are not mother's in the recognized sense of the word but trust me, they are very much, mother's. These woman give such love to their friends and family I dare anyone in my presence to argue this point. Whatever the circumstance that stopped them from having biological children is simply that, circumstance. These women in their own way of mothering have at times picked me up from the depths of darkness, usually unknowingly and unselfishly.
Suddenly anything that felt weighty to me upon waking up this morning has become almost an embarrassment. This mothers heart feels so heavy as I try to imagine not being able to protect my child from insects that will almost surely take her life. The basics that even the most mindful of us take for granted are dreams and hopes for the women of Africa. Food, shelter, safety from violence and disease should not be dreams...they should be the right of every human being.
Mimi Nakupenda,
Malaika~
Matthew 25:37 "Lord when did we ever see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or visit you in prison? And the King will tell them, "I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me".
"Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar"Ralph Waldo Emerson...
